The sound shuffling papers permeated through a luxurious ebony wood room. A hand with sausage-like fingers carefully dipped a feather into ink, avoiding staining its fanciful and bright red garments. The man lethargically fiddled with the feather, as he signed his name on clean parchment, before administering an ornate wax stamp. One could hear the sound of fabric stretching as the man leaned back into his seat which was cushioned with leather and studded with silver.

Two men were sat in front of the noble, their clothes paled to his but were still exquisite. One man adjusted his hat upon his greying head and stroked his well-defined moustache. The other man sat silently, with his fists clutching his embroidered pants. The two men had both hazel eyes and similar chins.

“Will that be all then, Mister Barnaby?” The noble swirled a fragrant wine.

The old man gave a swift glance through the signed papers. “Indeed, with this the asset exchange is complete,” Barnaby smiled.

The noble took a deep whiff of his wine. “I hope your Golden Rose Merchants will manage them well. I do not need to remind you that the Marquis will be depending on your aid.”

“Of course, the Marquis will have our eternal support!” The young man stood up energetically.

The older man patted him on the shoulder. “Calm down Manfred," he whispered.

The noble snorted in amusement. "Now then, when can I expect the rest of the money to arrive?” He raised his eyebrows.

The older merchant cleared his throat. “Baron Fitzroy, the caravan is currently crossing the river, and will soon pass through the valley. The money will arrive in a few weeks. However, I cannot guarantee that there won't be any delays, the weather has been getting worse after all.”

“Indeed it has, the peasants keep bringing it up. I think that concludes our affairs, you can be on your way now.” The baron waved his hand dismissively.

The two merchants stood up, bowed down, and silently left. Baron Fitzroy's keep was far more grandiose than that of a normal baron. His halls were filled with statues and paintings. He had even commissioned a Druid to make him an imperial styled garden. But the merchants had made no comments regarding the baron's spending habits, after all, he was a frequent customer.

“Alright Manfred, I’ll let you handle things from here. I need to return to the capital as soon as possible. The Crown has put up another major order for equipment, and I need to be there to capitalise on it.” The old man ruefully patted his apprentice's shoulder.

Manfred puffed up his chest in pride. “Don’t worry uncle, the mine will prosper in my hands!”

Upon parting ways, Manfred returned to his humble workplace, a small hut amidst the countless manors and buildings the guild had around the country. Upon seeing his office he could not help but sigh, from the window in his office, he gazed enviously at the view of the Baron's castle.

Upon his desk sat a report from a surveyor he had sent to observe the mine. The report was detailed, but his time was precious, so he had skipped to the conclusion.

“Unknown whether mine is in active production, but it is most evidently populated as evidenced by rising smoke, chopped trees and a palisade. Fresh snow obscured any tracks, so it's unknown who is populating it, most likely men from a nearby town trying to get any resources they can. Unknown whether the group is hostile, but judging from defences put in place, most likely hostile, thus I only observed from a safe distance. Additional investigation required. " He read the report out loud.

His face frowned and he gnashed his teeth. Some filthy peasant squatters had come to leech off his mine! He would need to clear them out. He could contact the local guard or military to do so, he had every legal justification to do so. The mine had become the property of the Golden Roses. But that would cost a lot of money and time. Everyone was occupied with the coming winter and various skirmishes across the country, people had little time and resources to spare. He could just hire bandits to do the job. They would be easier to negotiate with and they worked fast.

Happy with his own genius, he penned a letter of request and sent it out to all taverns, where the seedy and shady hung around. After a few days, he met up with a group of brigands, a troop somewhere in between criminals and mercenaries. He paid half the price upfront, and half would be paid once the job was completed. Manfred relaxed absentmindedly in his office, waiting for the good news.

“Ground-Shaker!” I cast the spell once more on the ground around the palisade. I was using this spell to soften the ground, allowing the other goblins to quickly and easily dig trenches. The dug up dirt was placed on the inner layer of the palisade for reinforcement, and the trenches were filled with wooden spikes that were hardened in fire. This process was repeated until our entire encampment was defended.

Interface You have raised your Ground-Shaker (Initiate) to Ground-Shaker (Budding)

The other goblins were busy carving away interlocking stone bricks for the stone wall, which I then later smoothed out with my magic. After a few days of work, we had the interior wall ready, albeit only up to our waists, something a human could easily jump over, but it would serve as cover for us.

We had erected rickety and makeshift watchtowers behind our palisades, which would allow the archers to shoot down anyone coming close.

Finally, the last thing that was built was a large bunker built on the lowest level of the mine, it contained essential supplies like wood, food, charcoal and tools. The door was a giant stone slab that you had to push away. Granted if one paid attention, they could easily notice it, but it was best we could do on short notice. We had made tiny and hidden passageways alongside the main hallways. The only thing connecting the two were holes through which our spears could pass through. Since I had not taken comfort into account, these tiny hallways were created rather quickly.

During the night, I sent scouts everywhere to try and be on the lookout for approaching enemies.

We needed to figure out how to work the forges. I never had any experience with metallurgy in my previous life. How often would an average person spend time smelting metal? But I knew basic things: hit it with a hammer, remove the impurities, quench it, fire needs air, but that was the extent of my pitiful knowledge.